Built in 1806, this lighthouse is made of sandstone with a stone spiral stairway. Overall height of the lighthouse is 58-feet and its top rises 63-feet above the sea. The original light was provided by nine lamps and reflectors. The lamps were replaced by a fourth-order Fresnel lens in 1855.
The original keepers house was built in 1802 at a cost of $8750. However, during the war of 1812, the British Navy occupied the lighthouse and keepers house. They burned down the keepers house before they left. After the war, a new two story keepers house was built. It was torn down in 1919 after the light was automated.
In 1963, the need for this lighthouse's light was replaced by an offshore beacon. The lighthouse was then decommissioned and became a day marker. The Coast Guard was responsible for operation of the lighthouse from 1939 to 1968.
The channel that separates the lighthouse from the main land was created by hurricanes in 1933.
Local citizens succeeded in having the lighthouse placed on the Virginia Historic Register in 1972, and it was designated as a state and national landmark. I visited this stately old lighthouse in the year 2000.
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